1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a half-fitting prevention connector in which when a pair of male and female connector housings are fitted with each other, a half-fitted state of the male and female connector housings is detected according to whether or not a fitting detection member attached over one connector housing is able to slidingly move to a proper-fitting detecting position.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-149924, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Related Art
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a conventional half-fitting prevention connector is arranged such that when a pair of male and female connector housings 1 and 9 are fitted with each other, a half-fitted state of the male and female connector housings 1 and 9 is detected according to whether or not a fitting detection member 2 fitted to one connector housing, i.e., the male connector housing 1, is able to slidingly move to a proper-fitting detecting position (reference should be had to JP-A-8-31517).
As shown in FIG. 8, the male connector housing 1 has a flexible lock arm 4 rising upward from a front end side of an upper wall 3 and extending in the rearward direction of the housing, and a lock portion 6 is projectingly provided on an upper surface of an intermediate portion of this flexible lock arm 4.
Further, a pressing plate portion 7, which is an operating portion for flexibly deflecting the flexible lock arm 4 during the fitting of the male and female connector housings, is provided at a free end of the flexible lock arm 4 located close to a rear end of the male connector housing 1.
In addition, the female connector housing 9 has an engaging portion 10 at an inner surface-side front end of an upper wall which is attached over the flexible lock arm 4 when the male and female connector housings 1 and 9 are fitted with each other.
As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, when the fitting length at the time of the fitting of the male and female connector housings 1 and 9 reaches an appropriate value, the engaging portion 10 rides over the lock portion 6 through the flexural deflection of the flexible lock arm 4. Then, when the length of fitting of the male and female connector housings 1 and 9 has reached the appropriate value, the engaging portion 10 retains the lock portion 6 by engaging a recessed portion 6a in the rear of the lock portion 6 from above, thereby locking the fitted state of the male and female connector housings.
As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the fitting detection member 2 has a structure in which an operating plate portion 16 which engages the pressing plate portion 7 slidably along the fitting direction of the male and female connector housings, a resilient piece 17 extending from a rear end portion of this operating plate portion 16 toward a front end side of the male connector housing 1, and a positioning portion 20 provided projectingly on a distal end of this resilient piece 17 are integrally molded. The resilient piece 17 has the shape of a rod which is capable of being inserted in a space between a pair of side plate portions 5 making up the aforementioned flexible lock arm 4.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 7, the positioning portion 20 is a projection which can be fitted from below into the recessed portions 6a and 6b respectively located behind and in front of the lock portion 6 by the urging force of the resilient piece 17. Before the fitting of the male and female connector housings, the positioning portion 20 is retained by a rear edge of the lock portion 6 and its forward movement is restricted in a state in which the positioning portion 20 is engaged in the recessed portion 6a in the rear of the lock portion 6.
The position where the positioning portion 20 abuts against the rear edge of the lock portion 6 and its forward displacement is thereby restricted is an initial position of the fitting detection member 2 fitted to the male connector housing 1.
In addition, as for the slidable engagement between the pressing plate portion 7 and the operating plate portion 16, the slidable range is set such that the fitting detection member 2 is slidable between the aforementioned initial position and the proper-fitting detecting position which is set forwardly of the initial position.
As shown in FIG. 10, when the pair of male and female connector housings 1 and 9 are fitted with each other, the length of fitting of the male and female connector housings 1 and 9 reaches an appropriate value, and the engaging portion 10 of the female connector housing 9 is fitted in the recessed portion 6a in the rear of the lock portion 6.
In consequence, the positioning portion 20 of the fitting detection member 2 which was engaged in the recessed portion 6a is pushed downward by the engaging portion 10, thereby canceling the positional restriction of the positioning portion 20 to its initial position. As a result, if the operating plate portion 16 is pushed forward, the fitting detection member 2 becomes slidable, as shown by arrow A in the drawing.
As shown in FIG. 11, if the fitting detection member 2 is moved forward in the state in which the positional restriction of the positioning portion 20 to its initial position is canceled, the positioning portion 20 advances forward in sliding contact with the lower surfaces of the engaging portion 10 and the lock portion 6. Then, when the positioning portion 20 has moved over the front edge of the lock portion 6, the positioning portion 20 is displaced upward by the urging force of the resilient piece 17, and is fitted in the recessed portion 6b in front of the lock portion 6.
In consequence, the positioning portion 20 fitted in the recessed portion 6b has its rear end face retained by the front end face of the lock portion 6, thereby assuming a locked state in which the rearwardly sliding movement is restricted.
However, in the case of a half-fitted state in which when the male and female connector housings 1 and 9 are fitted with each other, the length of fitting of the male and female connector housings 1 and 9 does not reach the appropriate value, the engaging portion 10 of the female connector housing 9 does not fit into the recessed portion 6a in the rear of the lock portion 6.
For this reason, the positioning portion 20 is not pushed out of the recessed portion 6a by the engaging portion 10, and the positional restriction of the fitting detection member 2 to its initial position by the lock portion 6 is not canceled.
Accordingly, when the male and female connector housings are half-fitted with each other, even if the operating plate portion 16 of the fitting detection member 2 is pushed forward, the fitting detection member 2 does not move forward, and the half-fitted state can be detected according to whether or not the fitting detection member 2 can be moved forward.
As the housings-engaging operation for engaging the above-described pair of male and female connector housings 1 and 9, an operator directly holds the respective connector housings 1 and 9 with his or her fingers, and engages both connector housings 1 and 9.
Next, as the detection member moving operation for detecting the fitted state of both connector housings 1 and 9, the operator changes the position of one finger which was holding the male connector housing 1 to the position for pressing the operating plate portion 16 of the fitting detection member 2, and moves the fitting detection member 2 from the initial position to the proper-fitting detecting position.
Further, as the housings-pulling and confirming operation for confirming whether the locked state of the male and female connector housings is incomplete due to the breakage or the like of the lock portion 6 even if the fitting detection member 2 was able to move properly to the proper-fitting detecting position, the operator pulls both connector housings with his or her right and left fingers in the disengaging directions while holding both connector housings, so as to confirm the locked state of the male and female connector housings.
Accordingly, the operator must consecutively perform the above-described three independent operations, so that there has been the problem that the number of operations is large.
In addition, when proceeding to an ensuing operation, on the male connector housing 1 side, the operator on each such occasion needs to change the position of one finger pinching the side surface of the male connector housing 1 to the position on the operating plate portion 16 of the fitting detection member 2 or change the position of the finger placed on the fitting detection member 2 to the side surface of the male connector housing 1. Hence, there has been the problem that the operating efficiency drops due to the change of the position of the finger.
The invention has been devised in view of the above-described problems, and its object is to provide a half-fitting prevention connector which, at the time of connecting the connector housings, makes it possible to simultaneously complete the detection member moving operation and the housings-pulling and confirming operation in a single operation, thereby making it possible to reduce the number of operations at the time of the connection of the connector housings.
Another object of the invention is to provide a half-fitting prevention connector in which, at the time of proceeding to an ensuing operation, makes it possible to perform the ensuring operation efficiently without needing to change the positions of the fingers holding the housings, thereby making it possible to improve the operating efficiency at the time of connection of the connector housings.
The half-fitting prevention connector of the invention for attaining the above objects is a half-fitting prevention connector including a first connector housing having a flexible lock arm, a second connector housing having an engaging portion for engaging a lock portion of the flexible lock arm and adapted to be connected to the first connector housing by engagement between the lock portion and the engaging portion when the second connector housing is fitted with the first connector housing, and a fitting detection member attached over the first connector housing slidably along a fitting direction of the connector housings so as to detect a half-fitted state of the connector housings according to whether or not the fitting detection member is able to slidingly move, characterized in that:
the fitting detection member has a substantially tubular detection member body which is attached over outer peripheries of the first connector housing slidably along the fitting direction of the connector housings, as well as a positioning portion for restricting the detection member body to an initial position by engagement with the lock portion, wherein before the fitting of the connector housings the fitting detection member is restricted to the initial position by the engagement between the lock portion and the positioning portion, and wherein at the time of complete fitting of the connector housings the fitting detection member slidingly moves from the initial position toward a rear side of the one cancellation operating portion, and is restricted to a proper-fitting detecting position by engagement between the positioning portion and a detection member retaining portion provided in the rear of the lock portion in sad flexible lock arm.
According to the half-fitting prevention connector constructed as described above, before its engagement with the other cancellation operating portion, the fitting detection member attached over one cancellation operating portion is restricted to its initial position by being retained at the lock portion in such a manner as to substantially cover outer peripheries of the one cancellation operating portion. For this reason, at the time of the housings-engaging operation for engaging the pair of male and female connector housings, the engaging operation can be effected with the fitting detection member kept pinched by fingers.
In addition, upon completion of the aforementioned housings-engaging operation, the detection member moving operation is effected to move the fitting detection member from the initial position to the proper-fitting detecting position so as to detect the fitted state of the male and female connector housings.
This detection member moving operation is an operation of moving the fitting detection member toward the rear side of the housing, and when the fitting detection member reaches the proper-fitting detecting position, the positioning portion of the fitting detection member engages the detection member retaining portion in the first connector housing, thereby restricting the sliding movement of the fitting detection member. At this time, the fitting detection member can be moved by being merely pulled toward the rear side of the housing without changing the fingers which were pinching the fitting detection member at the time of the housings-engaging operation.
Subsequently, if the fitting detection member is further pulled toward the rear side of the housing, the housings-pulling and confirming operation can be effected in which the housings are pulled away from each other in the disengaging directions. Namely, the housings-pulling and confirming operation is an operation of moving the fitting detection member toward the rear side of the housing, and its urging direction is the same as that of the detection member moving operation. Hence, in the same pulling operation for effecting the detection member moving operation, the operation can be completed at a stroke including the housings-pulling and confirming operation.
In addition, the half-fitting prevention connector of the invention is the above-described half-fitting prevention connector and is characterized in that in the initial position the length of the fitting detection member is preferably set such that the fitting detection member does not project from a rear end of the first connector housing.
According to the half-fitting prevention connector constructed as described above, it is possible to perform automatic insertion of connection terminals by an automatic terminal-inserting machine from the rear side of the first connector housing over which the fitting detection member is fitted.
In addition, the half-fitting prevention connector of the invention is the above-described half-fitting prevention connector and is characterized in that, at the time of the complete fitting of the connector housings, the positioning portion is preferably pushed out by the lock portion in conjunction with the engagement of the retaining portion with the lock portion, thereby canceling a state of the engagement of the positioning portion with the lock portion.
According to the half-fitting prevention connector constructed as described above, if the fitting detection member is moved toward the rear side of the housing, the fitting detection member reaches the proper-fitting detecting portion, and the positioning portion engages the detection member retaining portion. In consequence, the sliding movement of the fitting detection member toward the rear side of the housing is restricted, and the fitting detection member is then further pulled toward the rear side of the housing, thereby effecting the housings-pulling and confirming operation in which the connector housings are pulled away from each other in the disengaging directions.
Accordingly, when the connector housings are connected to each other, the detection member moving operation and the housings-pulling and confirming operation can be effected smoothly in a single operation, so that it is possible to reduce the number of operations at the time of the connection of the connector housings.